Management Leadership and Accountability

1. Management Leadership and Accountability

2. Managing vs. Leading • By managing, organizations make things happen • By leading, organizations show employees why safety matters and why they should be motivated

3. Top Ways to Improve Safety Management • Integrate all aspects of the safety program into a single comprehensive management system • Manage safety at the same level and degree as every other aspect of the business • Integrate safety into the process of the business • Safety is a value and not a priority • Lead with a philosophy that all injuries/illnesses are preventable • Provide for and encourage meaningful employee involvement in the safety process

4. “The single greatest safety system failure in corporate America today is the lack of accountability” Dan Peterson

5. If employees don’t believe they’re going to be held accountable for their decisions related to safety, the safety effort is ultimately doomed for failure.

6. What is Accountability? • Most common responses refer to negative consequences for failure to perform • Dictionary: Liable or Answerable • It is the ability to account for or to measure • Obligation to fulfill a task…or else

7. Accountability • It can be reactive – constantly putting out fires • It can be proactive – an executed plan that works in the field

8. Responsibility vs. Accountability • Responsibility is an obligation to perform duties • It relies on personal integrity • It does not necessarily have associated consequences • Accountability requires consequences • Consequences should be balanced

9. Responsibility vs. Accountability • Someone is accountable when his/her performance is measured • When someone is responsible, his/her performance is not necessarily measured • The objective is to motivate performance

10. Accountability • Supervisors are often measured on schedule, production, cost, etc • They are seldom measured on safety performance • Holding managers and supervisors accountable for safety sends the message that safety is a core value

11. Accountability Elements • Physical resources (conditions) • Tools, equipment, materials, environment • Psychosocial support (behaviors) • Training, schedules, procedures, management • Process of evaluation • Daily observations, formal evaluations • Effective consequences • Positive recognition or appropriate corrective action

12. Measuring Performance • Can you measure the Presence of Safety rather than the absence of an injury? • Does safety have an equal weight to other performance measures? • Are consequences applied consistently at all levels of the organization? • How often should safety activities/results be evaluated for their effectiveness?